Golf ball winding machine



March 11, 1958 l N, A, HURsT ErAL 2,826,372

GOLF BALL WINDING MACHINE Filed Sept. 19, 1955 -4 Sheets-Sheet l N. A.HURST ETAL GOLF BALL WINDING MACHINE March 1l; 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 2Filed Sept. 19, 1955 N. A. HURsT ETAL 2,826,372

GOLF BALL WINDING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Marc/1111, 195s Filed Sept.19, 1955 GOLF BALL WINDING MACHINE GOLF BALL WINDING MACHINE rNormanAshcroft Hurst, Liverpool, aud-Desmond Lawson Jenkins, Kirby, England,assiguors to' Dunlop Tire and t Rubber Corporatiomutfalo, N.-Y., acorporation of lNew York Application September 19, 1955, Serial No.535,175 sfclaims. (ci. 242-s) Our inventionvrelates to 'golf ball corewinding machines. '-In prior `constructions the `rollersg'upon whichtafgolf ball core `was supported duringwinding, were rotated andsimultaneously axially oscillated" in order to' obtainV an even andsphericallyiwound core. Thev axial 'oscillation :was eifected by meansofa cam drive. "Ont account of -the speed ofo'scillation of therollersandy the Severity of :the operating conditions, the cani created aconsiderable amountof "noise which had an undesirable*effectupon -tl`1eoperator. `This effect *was magnified when, asfis usually the case, themachines were installed in groups. j Ourinvention provides' animprovedgolf ball winding machine.

vAccording to thewpresent invention, a golf ball core ivvinding machinecomprises a support for av reel or the ,concaveiproled rollers beingmovableawayfrom'tthe cylindrical rollers byincreasein 'size of the core"during winding, means 'for rotating the cylindrical rollers,"and

`an eccentric mechanism and associated linkage fori axially oscillatingeach cylindrical roller. i i

vThe'eccentric mechanism may comprise an eccentric sheave surrounded bya strap Within which the sheave -is rotatable and the associated linkagemay vcomprisey an 'eccentric rod attached at one end to the strap and atthe other end to a rocker itself'attached by means of a'furth'er link toa cap Within which an end of a shaft carryingthe cylindrical roller isfreely rotatable.

Alternatively, the eccentric mechanism may comprise the crank pin of acrankshaft and an associated bearing within which the crank pin isrotatable.

In one construction of the present invention the cylindrical andconcave-profile rollers are rubber-covered 'and the tensioning apparatuscomprises a rubber belt whichis supported in a tensioned elongated 'loopon a pair of stationary, spaced-apart pins. The rubber threadis pressed,during its passage over a freely rotatable pulley, against one side ofthe rubber belt which is caused vto 'rotate against 'the frictionalresistance of the stationaryf pins. Means are provided for adjusting thebelt to varythe amount of tensionimparted to the threadl duringvwinding.

`The apparatus of vthe present'invention may also comprise meansy forvarying the pressure of theconca'veprofiled rollers upon a c ore duringwinding so as to compact the core as the'winding progressesandelectricalmeans maybe providedfor stopping winding in Vthe event of a break in thecore-winding thread and for stopping the vwinding when the'core reachesa predeterminedlisize. One embodiment of -the'inve'ntion `isillustrated, by way Qf,eXa n1-ple,in1the accompanying drawingsin'whieh-f Fig. 1 is a front perspective view of a singlegolf ballUnited States Patenti@ 2,826,372 latentecl vllt/lar. 1 1258 ICC "theoperatingVj and driving' mechanisms;

`Fig."2 is a similar perspective viewof thesame Afrom 'the rear;

FigfSis'afront 4elevation ofthe winding unit; rFig.V 4 is a verticalsecti'orionthe` line lV-IVof FigS. Conveniently, eight suchu'nits'fareVV arranged,l 'four' on each side, of asupportingffr'ameworkto form a;u `complete machine.`

'Thefg'olf ball winding machine unit comprises a pairof cylindricalcore-'supporting rollersY 10 Vmounted on parallel shafts 11. Theperipheral surface of the lrollersis covered with alayer of rubber127which' forms" ay gripping surface for the rollersduringwinding "of ,agolf ballcore" as will be appreciated as vthe description proceeds. Eachshaft 11i's supported -in abearing13'piovide'd in a faceplate 14 andase'cond bearing 1 5 mounted in a supporting itramew'orlr 16^rigidlyattached t6 the face-plate, the roller shafts-lllbeingslidable androtatable in these bearings in arnanner nwto lie-"described p Rotationof the 'r`oll'erishafts'is` effected by a 45 Ahelical 19 Lis rotated by'means "of a pulley 20y (s'ee' Fig. "2)attached tdfan vend" of the shaft'19 whchprojects through the side 'of theisuppo'rting fratnework'k 16,-the pulley "20 being driven* by a"`V-belt"it'self` driven by l-arr 1electric motor(n'otfsh'owni). Onel 'motor is'fproviddforleaeh unit.

AV pair ofl'eccentricV sheaves 21 are""mounted on the drive shaft'19,each of the sheaves being'enclotsedfby a strap 22 which is directlyconnected Vto'one end, of an eccentric rod 23, the other end of whichispivotallyattachedto one=arm 24a ofv a rocker 24, freely *rotatable onaiocker shaft 25 mounted in bearings 26`carr`ied by the supportingframework 16. Ea'chof the rockers'Z/i isY 'conne'ct'ed,by meansI of asecond ar'rnZ/ib- 'formed thereonyto a roller shaft -11 bymeans 'ofla'likf27` arid cap 28. Each of the caps 28' carries a pair of rollerbearings 28a which are secured to theV end of a roller shaft 11 so'that,whereas the roller shafts llarev freely rotatable within'the caps 28,the shafts can in-addition beaxially oscillated byv` means of theVeccentrics' Zithro'ugh the linkages described' and the caps`28 attached`to 'the shaft ends. The'eccentric sheaves 21 are relatively positionedon the drive shaft 19 so that the roller shafts ll and thus `the rollerslill are oscillated out of phase, thatfis, when one cylindrical rolleris approaching its aXiallyinnermost position relative tothe face-plate14,- theothercylindrical roller isapproaching its "axially outermost'position relative to the face-plate.

A` pair of cancaveproiiled, rubber-covered rollers 29 are freely mountedon a U-shapedf supporting'member 30 in a position adjacent to andabove'thecylindrical rollers. Thevl axes of vthey concave-proledrollers`-are parallel `to the axes ofthe cylindrical rollers.

The `U-shaped supporting member 30is attached to the 'lower end of aplunger' rod 3l, lthe uppert end of which --is' kprovided with a pair ofleather c'upwash'ers' 32,

v33v forming a piston which :is located within lan air cylinder' 34attached to the `face-plate in a vertical-position such that movement ofthe piston within the cylinder will carry the concave-profiled rollers29 towards and away -from the cylindrical rollers lll. yTheconcaveprofiled rollers 29 are urged in a downward direction y:towardthe cylindrical rollersby"means of` a spring 35 located ony aV guidestem36' between the piston'and-'a bush 37 screwed-into the top of the`cylinder,ladjustment ofthefbush yvarying the'degree of f compression ofthe spring for any givenposition ofthe piston. 'A pair-of @essere ports38, 39 (see Fig. 4) communicate with the cylinder interior so that airpressure may be applied, as desired, to the upper or lower face of thepiston so as to cause upward or downward movement thereof.

A manually operated air valve 40 is attached to the back of theface-plate in a position such that a pushbutton 41 for operating thevalve projects through the face-plate. The valve body has an inlet, towhich a copper air supply pipe 42 is attached, the inlet being normallyclosed by a bearing ball (not shown) which is thrust by air pressurewithin the supply pipe and by light spring against a seating provided inthe valve body. A pipe 43 is connected in the side of the valve body. Aplunger (not shown) which is slidable in the valve body, carries thepush-button 41 at one end, its other end being locatable with thebearing ball so as to lift it from the seating against the pressure onthe ball, when the button is depressed, and allow air under pressure toflow fro-m the inlet pipe into the valve body. The air then flowsthrough the pipe 43 to a relief valve 44.

The relief valve 44, Fig. 4, comprises a body portion having a bore 45within which a shuttle 46 may oscillate. The shuttle is urged by spring47 towards the lower end of the body which has an inlet connected bypipe 43 (see Fig. 2) with the manually-operated air valve outlet. Arelief valve outlet 49 is connected by means of a pipe 50 to thecylinder port 39 communicating with the lower face of the piston. Anexhaust port 48 communicates with the atmosphere. The upper end of therelief valve body is provided with a port 51 which directly communicateswith the port 38 provided in the cylinder 34. The upper end of the valvebody is also connected by means of a pipe 52 to anautomatically-operated air valve 53, Figs. 2 and 3, now to be described.

The automatically-operated air valve is attached to the supportingframework 16 and comprises a housing 53 having a bore (not shown) oneend of which is provided with a seating upon which a bearing ball isnormally held by means of a light spring, so as to close the supply ofair from a pipe 55. An outlet S4, connected through pipe 52 to the upperend of the relief valve, is provided at the other end of the bore. Aplunger 56 is slidable within the bore so as to depress the bearing ballclear of the seating so that air may flow through the bore of thehousing and the outlet 54 to the relief valve 44. One end of the plungerprojects clear of the housing and engages a rocker arm 57. The rockerarm is rigidly attached to a shaft 58 rotatable in a pair of bearinglugs 59 formed integrally with the housing. One end of the rocker shaft58 projects beyond one of the lugs and is rigidly connected to rockerarm 60 which is also connected by means of a link 61 to a crank pin 62attached to one face of a gear wheel 63 which is driven by a pinion 64rigidly attached to the end of the drive shaft 19 remote from the pulley2li. The gear ratio between the pinion and gear wheel is such that forevery ten rotations of the pinion and drive shaft the automatic valve isoperated through the link and rocker arms once only.

When the automatically-operated valve 53 is operated, air is caused toflow therefrom to the relief valve 44, the shuttle 46 being uneffectedthereby and remaining at the lower end of the relief valve body, the airows from the relief valve through the port 51 into the cylinder andagainst the upper face of the piston to urge it downwardly in thecylinder whereby the concave-profiled rollers 29 are forced against agolf ball core during winding in order to compact the rubber thread 90thereon as will be more readily appreciated as the description proceeds.

A thread-tensioning device 65 is attached to the faceplate 14 on oneside of the cylinder 34 and comprises a freely rotatable tensioningpulley 66 mounted on a horizontal axis and a pair of freely rotatableguide pulleys 67 mounted adjacent to the tensioning pulley so thatrubber thread 90 may pass from a reel 91 supported on the face-plate 14rst around one of the guide pulleys 67, then the tensioning pulley 66and then around the other guide pulley 67. It then travels over a pulley63 associated with a thread-break indicated device, later to bedescribed, and around a core located between the rollers.

A rubber belt 69 is supported in a tensioned elongated loop on a pair ofstationary, spaced-apart pins 70, 71 adjacent to the tensioning pulley.The lower flight of the rubber belt is deflected by the outer peripheryof the tensioning pulley so that it contacts the tensioning pulley alonga portion of its outer periphery which subtends at the pulley centre anangle of about 20. The pins around which the belt passes are carried onbrackets 72, 73 one of which (73) is slidable on a back plate 74 towardsand away from the other so as to increase the belt tension by means of athumb screw 75 attached to the bracket and bearing upon a portion of theback plate. The other bracket 72 is slidable on the back plate in avertical direction so as to increase or decrease the amount of belt lapupon the tensioning pulley.

When the thread passes over the tensioning pulley a portion of thethread thereon frctionally contacts the rubber belt 69 which resists thepassage of the thread over the tensioning pulley 66. The thread tensionoccurring between the core and the pulley 66 depends upon the tension ofthe rubber belt 69 and also upon the amount of lap of the belt upon thetensioning pulley, which determines the area of the thread whichcontacts the belt and thus the amount of slippage therebetween. Thethread tension may therefore be adjusted by adjusting the belt tensionor by adjusting the amount of lap of the belt upon the tensioningpulley.

A thread-break indicating device is rigidly attached to the face-plate14 and comprises a lever 76, Figs. 'i and 3, pivoted at one end, andcarrying at its other end the pulley 63. A micro-switch 77 is rigidlyattached to the face-plate 14 so that its spring-loaded operatingplunger 78 contacts the lever 76 between its ends. The microswitch isconnected in the driving motor circuit so that when the lever 76 isdepressed by the tensioned thread passing over the pulley 68, themicro-switch plunger is depressed so that the motor circuit ismaintained. Should a thread break occur, the lever 76 is no longerdepressed by means of the tensioned thread and the micro-switch isactuated so that the driving motor circuit is interrupted and themachine drive stopped.

Electrical means are also provided for stopping the driving motor when agolf ball core being wound on the rollers 1t) reaches a predeterminedsize. The means comprises an upstauding plunger 79, Fig. 3, rigidlyattached to the upper side of the U-shaped member 3Q, this plungerprojecting upwardly through a guide t) attached to the bottom end of thecylinder 34. The top end of the plunger is provided with an operatingpin 81 secured to the end of the plunger by means of a cap S2, the pinbeing slidable in the cap axially relative to the plunger against thepressure of a spring S3 urging the pin axially outwardly relative to theplunger. The operating plunger 84 of a second micro-switch 35 is locatedabove the operating pin and in axial alignment therewith. Themicro-switch is mounted on a bracket 86 which is pivotable o-n theface-plate 14, movement of the bracket being effected by means of athumb-screw S7 secured to a pillar @S and serving to move the bracket sothat the micro-switch operating plunger is moved towards or away fromthe operating pin.

The micro-switch is connected in the motor drive cirsuit so that themachine will be stopped when its operating plunger is actuated.

By adjustment ofthe position of the micro-switch it can be made tooperate when the concave-profiled rollers are lifted by a golf ball coreof any of a range of predetermined sizes.

The operation of the machine which has just been described will now beoutlined.

The rubber thread 90 from a reel 91 is passed around thethread-tensioning device, over the pulley 68 and around a core which isplaced on and between the cylindrical rollers 10, the concave-proledrollers 29 'being lifted to enable this to be done by depressing thepushbutton 41. This causes a supply of air to ow from the valve 40,through the pipe 43 to the relief valve 44 to move the shuttle 46 (seeFig. 4) upwardly against the spring 47 until air ows past the end of theshuttle to the outlet 49 and the pipe 50. The air then flows through theport 39 into the cylinder 34 to force the piston upwardly thus liftingthe rollers 29. The shuttle in moving upwardly communicates the exhaustport 48 with the port 51 to exhaust the upper part of the cylinder 34.When the push-button 41 is released the relief valve assumes once morethe disposition shown in Fig. 4. The machine will commence to operatewhen a start switch fitted to the face-plate is closed, provided thatthe micro-switch associated with the thread-break indicating device isdepressed by the thread. The cylindrical rollers are simultaneouslyrotated and axially oscillated `so that the golf ball core is subjectedduring winding to random motion in order that the resulting core may bespherically shaped when wound. During winding, theautomatically-operated valve 53 intermittently supplies air to thecylinder 34 through the relief valve 44, which has its elementsdisposed, as shown in Fig. 4, with the bottom part of the cylinder 34communicating with the exhaust port 48 through the pipe 50, outlet 49and the shuttle 46. The air is supplied to the upper part of thecylinder in the manner described so that the concave-profiled rollers 29are intermittently forced with increased pressure against the core so asto compact the winding as it progresses. When the core reaches a sizepredetermined by adjustment of the position of the second micro-switch,the latter is actuated by means of vthe operating pin 81 so that themotor is stopped. The

wound core may then be removed a-fter pushing the pushbutton 41 so as tolift the concave-profiled rollers 20 clear `of the wound core.

those of the cylindrical rollers, means to press said concave-profiledrollers yieldingly towards said cylindrical rollers and movable awayfrom the cylindrical rollers by increase in diameter of a core on saidcylindrical rollers, means for supplying elastic core winding threadunder tension to a core on said cylindrical rollers, means for rotatingsaid cylindrical rollers, and an eccentric mechanism for eachcylindrical roller to oscillate the rollers axially each of whichcomprises an eccentric sheave surrounded by a strap within which thesheave is rotatable and means for drivably connecting the strap to thecylindrical roller.

2. The golf ball winding machine of claim 1 in which the means fordrivably connecting the strap to the cylindrical roller comprises arocker and an associated linkage comprising an eccentric rod attached atone end to the strap and atl the other end to said rocker, a cap withinwhich an end of a shaft carrying a cylindrical roller is freelyrotatable and a link connecting said'rocker to said cap.

3. The golf ball core winding machine of claim l, a spring loaded pistonand cylinder and an automatically operated air valve for intermittentlysupplying air under pressure to said cylinder to urge theconcave-profiled rollers with increased pressure against a core on saidsupporting rollers, a manually operated air valve and a shuttle reliefvalve, said relief valve being connected to the cylinder andautomatically-operated air valve so that air may be passed from theautomatically-operated valve to the cylinder and being connected to themanually-Operated valve and the cylinder so that upon operation of saidmanually operated valve air may be supplied to said cylinder to movesaid concave-profiled rollers away from said cylindrical-profiledrollers.

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